d i r t y b l o n d e
by high and down
Summary: The first time Hayner laid eyes on his soon-to-be arch nemesis was at sunrise. SEINER SEIFERXHAYNER
1. S U N R I S E

**d **** i r t y b l o n d e**

* * *

The first time Hayner laid eyes on his soon-to-be arch nemesis was at sunrise. Half past five exactly.

He couldn't ever forget, because of the way the sun had glared in his eyes as it peeked over the skyscraper-littered horizon and he had turned and shielded his eyes and then - then he had seen him.

The sunlight seemed to get itself tangled up in that short cropped hair and framed his face like some kind of halo. Pale, icy eyes glanced his way and for some horrible and unknown reason, Hayner felt himself panic for a moment before tearing his gaze away and back to the task at hand. He had more important things to worry about. He crouched low over the diving block that he had come to know so well and took a deep breath.

The cold, refreshing taste of the pool hit him as he crashed in, his senses flooded with chlorine and chemicals and all thoughts of the sun-boy, that golden, luminescent being who had not even noticed him, were put aside. He started moving immediately, focussing his breathing with every stroke of his arm, every kick of his legs. It felt good to move his muscles through the silky water. His coach and long-time friend, Olette, followed him along the side of the pool with a stopwatch in her hand.

Streams of bubbles burst from his mouth as he powered along, enjoying the burn that crept through his muscles. As he reached the end of his first ten laps he exploded from the surface of the pool like a geyser, mouth sucking in all the air he could get, the now-warm morning sun dancing softly on his brown skin and reflecting off the rivulets of water that ran down his body.

"Refreshing," he greeted Olette, who had a slight frown on her pretty face.

"Bad start. Your dive wasn't clean, it cost you seconds there." She smiled forgivingly. "Don't forget that the start is the most vital part to your race!"

"Ah, yeah. I know." Hayner made the effort to sound slightly sheepish. He knew what had distracted him at the outset. Sharp, sharp greeny-blue eyes like acid sky pierced his thoughts and he blinked rapidly, tried to concentrate on what Olette was saying.

"Hop back in, we'll try that again with a better start. Maybe we need to go over some finer points of your dive."

Hayner didn't argue. He fought the urge to stare at the blonde stranger again and took his irritation out on the water. Green-blue ripples reflected the sky above, little winks of luminescence caught by the bright sun and for a moment he wondered. He hurriedly dived in, destroying the brief moment of quiet beauty.

* * *

After a couple of hours had passed and Hayner's legs were telling him to stop calling and call it quits, he stopped swimming furiously up and down the pool and took a breather on the bleachers, head between his knees as he breathed in sweet oxygen. The sun was high up in the sky now, sunlight pouring down from a cloudless sky. He raised again a hand to shield his eyes.

His eyes wandered of their own accord, some remote part of him searching for the newcomer (whom he had, for some strange reason, now come to associate with the sun), coming to a halt as he saw the sun-boy getting out at the deep end, muscles flexing and water streaming down his strong body as he stood up. Hayner's mouth went dry and he instinctively swallowed, completely taken in by the simple, forceful _attraction_ he felt. He fought the fantasy that invaded him; a fantasy about that tall, hard body and that pale golden hair which was also mimicked on the sun-boy's lower navel. He tried to fight it, to derail his thoughts from the downward track they were already headed on. Hayner didn't believe in shallow, physical, selfish sexual attraction. Attraction lay in character and in depth of personality. That was what he had come to make himself believe and he sure as hell wasn't about to throw it out the window for this wanker.

He was so distracted that he managed to miss the fact that said wanker was now approaching him, only jerking out of his daydreams when the taller interrupted, "Hey."

With a start, Hayner looked up and was instantly taken hostage by those haunting, searching green-blue eyes which were close enough that he could see his own reflection in them and the bright endless sky above him. With another start, he lurched backwards. Hadn't the guy ever heard of personal space?

Hayner was an impulsive child, fond of acting before and without thought. Hayner was known for a quick and fiery passion, was easily excited and easily brought to hasty judgment. Unfortunately it got him into trouble more often than not.

In his effort to remain cucumber-cool and not appear so _affected_, he replied with a short, "Hey," except it came out sounding more like, "What the hell do you want?"

_Play it cool, Hayner. _Good work.

The other blonde - blonder than him - frowned in surprise and what could possible have been hurt and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again and instead bared a menacing sliver of white, pearly teeth in a leer. "I just came over to say you better pull your goddamned socks up, because I'm here now and we don't take losers on the team."

"What? Who the hell do you think you are?"

The other clearly saw fit to ignore him, shaking his head shortly and stalking off. Hayner's chest grew uncomfortable with annoyance and then rage. He sulked his way over to Olette, grabbing her by the shoulder and growling, "Who is that dickwad anyway?"

As if she'd been expecting it, the brunette sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's been here all of ten minutes and already you've made an enemy of him?"

"He called me names!" Hayner fumed.

"Oh. I see," she replied, sounding unconvinced. "He's come here from Balamb Garden for the swim team. His name's Seifer Almasy. Try to get along with him. You'll be seeing a lot of him since you're both swimming for Twilight Town in the national competitions coming up in a few months."

"Like hell I will!" Hayner nearly shouted. He hated being upstaged. Especially by somebody for whom he was realistically no match, and on top of that somebody who was way out of his league. Competitively, that is. Nothing to do with attraction. What was he, a hormone-drunk sixteen year old? No, Hayner was _mature_ and mature enough at that to deal with this dickhead in a _mature_ way. He'd _prove_ it.

* * *

Next episode coming soon.

Part of my !new! [Seifer x Hayner] Community which is regularly updated and has the only comprehensive stock of Seiner fics: .net/community/Seifer_x_Hayner/77028/


	2. s u n s e t

**d ****i r t y b l o n d e**

* * *

The next time Hayner laid eyes on his soon-to-be arch nemesis was at sunset. Half past five exactly. It was ironic, although Hayner didn't notice (Hayner didn't notice much in general. His friends sometimes called him stupid).

The shadows were growing long and the sky was a fiery red streaked with dark clouds in the far distance. Hayner was skating home when a loud, self-assured laugh made him prick his ears. Damned if he didn't recognise that voice. Seifer was leaning against a black, fast-looking sportscar, half of a sandwich in his left hand, a skinny redheaded girl in his right and a cigarette dangling from his lips. On either side of him were two more girls, all of them in designer miniskirts and matching handbags and matching banshee shrieks - er, laughs.

Hayner didn't want to stop, but he did slow down, and he eyed the car cynically. It was lowslung, heavy, expensive with those fancy spoilers finishing the edges and it couldn't be Seifer's. He was probably just leaning against it to show off. It probably wasn't even his. He snorted.

As if hearing Hayner from across the road and acting to spite him, Seifer let go of the smoking hot redhead and reached into his pocket, drawing out keys and unlocking the car, gesturing coolly for his groupies to jump in. The interior looked even more expensive. It looked like the kind of interior people would have sex in.

Pfft. Whatever. As if somebody like Seifer could afford a car like that. No way. Hayner jumped back on his board and cruised on, but not before Seifer had roared past him with the engine revving noticeably more than was necessary - either because he had seen Hayner and was mocking him, or just because he was actually that much of a dick, Hayner didn't know - and nearly knocked him off. He fought the urge to yell angrily after him since he was _trying_ to deal with Seifer _maturely_, but still couldn't quell the urge to glare and threw his skateboard into the bitumen in a fit of well-known Hayner irritation. He wasn't used to being rubbed the wrong way by somebody who wouldn't even look at him. Seifer didn't even know him. Hayner sulked as he retrieved his board, sulked some more as he inspected some minor damage caused by his fit of rage, and cursed Seifer again.

* * *

Hayner didn't see his new, oblivious rival for a few days and he almost forgot about him (as previously mentioned … Hayner came across as a bit dim sometimes). He was, however, reminded of him upon his return to the swimming pool a few days later. Just looking at the chlorinated, toxic-coloured water made him remember those _eyes_, and not without a slight skip in his chest, as if his heart had seized up momentarily. He bit his lip dreamily for a second, indulging himself in childish yearning. He could stare into that water forever … he wondered what it would be like to stare into Seifer's eyes. Hayner snorted. He was sure he'd end up trying to bash the older boy's head in before it got anywhere near romantic.

The next time he stopped at the end of the pool the sky was dripping black and he could see a milky curve of the moon, shyly hiding itself in the mid-month hemisphere. It suddenly occurred to him that his lungs were desperate for air and his muscles were feeling a bit strained and tired after a good workout. Sure had earned his rest this time. Being of a stubborn mentality, Hayner liked to work himself until he felt that he really needed a break.

He jumped out, making for the shower rooms and internally being thankful for the late hour it was as there would be no line for the showers at this time. Hayner suspected he would be the only one in the change rooms.

Several minutes later however, he was proven so horribly, horribly wrong as he turned the corner into the male showers and was greeted by a dull thumping noise and loud cries of, "Ah, ah, ah, fuck, yes, oh _fuck_ - "

What the _hell_? People actually had sex in public change rooms?

"That's so disgusting," Hayner muttered under his breath. He was starting to rethink his shower which had been such a good idea five minutes ago, when the adventurer in the shower orgasmed oh-so-vocally, followed soon after by a short chuckle from the other and the command, "Go get cleaned up."

Hayner froze. Damned if he didn't recognise that voice. _Seifer_ was having sex in the shower!?

He should have known it. As he silently fumed to himself about this new, unwanted discovery that only made him hate the infamous Seifer Almasy even more, he narrowly avoided being walked into by a dazed looking and very naked Tidus. Hayner fought the urge to swear loudly. Preparing for what he was sure would be an awkward exchange, he pasted a surprised grin onto his face and exclaimed, "Oh, hey, Tidus! I didn't know anybody was still here."

Tidus jumped and turned red. "H - Hey. I was just heading home, yeah." He reached for his towel self-consciously and hurried past Hayner, mumbling an embarrassed, "Bye," and not looking back at Hayner.

Christ, who did this guy think he was!? _He thinks he can just barge into __**my**__ town out of nowhere, take over __**my**__ pool, and now he's dirtying __**my **__shower just as I want to have a shower as well as treating me like shit and being a total fucking dickweed_ -

His internal, enraged rambling was cut off as he noticed Seifer a little distance away, rinsing himself with water and popping his joints which Hayner snidely assumed were strained from all the intense action he'd been pushing himself through. Jerk. Fucking arrogant too, judging by the way he was taking the time to slowly, sensually, stretch and flex and roll his wet shoulders that were heavier than Hayner's firm swimming muscles, the way that he arched his neck muscles and the tendons and sinews peeked at him seductively in the muted light and his _skin_ was so silky and flowing it must be from all that time in the water and suddenly Hayner came to another horrible realisation which was that Seifer was looking right at him as he stared at his post-coital cool-down. Lucky his survey hadn't gone any further - or lower.

Seifer raised an eyebrow at him. He said nothing, which made it awkward because Hayner wasn't even given the option of indignantly shouting something back in reply, and Hayner blushed madly for a long, awful moment.

"Lamer," Seifer said lazily, just as Hayner thought the struggle against all that silence would actually kill him. He then turned around, reached for a towel, Hayner only just remembering that somehow Seifer had been naked until just now.

"My name's Hayner," Hayner bit back and he was almost too eager to have something to actually say.

There was a short silence and Seifer began to laugh. "Hayner? Sounds like lamer. It rhymes, haha." His tone turned a little more serious and he added in a sharper tone, "Could you not stand there gawking? You're creeping me out."

Slowly Hayner's fingers curled up tightly into a fist. He planted his feet firmly in the ground, to stop himself running over there and ramming his fist into the jerk's face (and to stop himself from succumbing to the desire to _touch_ the goddamned idiot in all his nearly-naked glory) and simply glared, just to spite him.

Seifer rolled his eyes and approached Hayner slowly, like the first time they had met that early morning that seemed like yesterday to Hayner. _Oh god why is he coming so close I can see all the little drops of water on his skin and how does he have muscles like that oh help - _and Seifer brushed past him, deliberately letting his body press into Hayner's side, letting all that heat and moisture on him collect against Hayner's chilled and trembling skin, and he brushed his lips _so close_ to Hayner's ear and Hayner thought he was going to say something mocking, but he didn't, just let skin graze skin and Seifer's lips were so hot on the numb extremity of Hayner's ear but he had stopped caring, wondering crazily if Seifer was going to kiss him. He turned to the side towards the sun-boy, eyes lidded and heavy, his lips parted...

Then Seifer was gone and Hayner stood alone, shaking, feeling ridiculous and cheap and defeated.


	3. s e a s a l t

**d ****i r t y b l o n d e**

* * *

Seifer's arrival had officially ruined Hayner's life. He couldn't go anywhere without being reminded, loudly and clearly, of the invasion of his happy days. The obstinate, conceited smell of Seifer Almasy stained every part of Hayner's freedom.

He saw Seifer charming one of the boys from the water polo team one afternoon. The captain, more specifically. Blonde and strongly built and a distant friend of Hayner's. The captain of the water polo team, for Chrissakes, who nodded to them every day from the other side of the pool. Didn't Seifer have any shame?

A simple trip to the ice cream shop was spoilt when he noticed Seifer making out with a leggy brunette in the shadow of the deli. He caught a glimpse of Seifer's pink tongue slipping into her mouth and his stomach lurched horribly. He suddenly felt sickened by the thought of seasalt ice cream and blamed it on the stupid ass across the road and his one-night stand who was half his age. Didn't Seifer have any dignity at all?

Wherever he turned, there was that infuriating blue-green gaze and arrogant smirk that Seifer was well known for. How had the sun-boy permeated his life so completely?

He complained once to Olette, despite his fierce resolution to not let it show that he was affected, because admitting it out loud to somebody else would be more than tantamount to admitting it to himself. Olette said he was obsessed. Hayner fell into a rage - more at the world in general than at Olette - and hated Seifer Almasy even more.

Yet it drove him wild to be ignored. Soon he became irritable, aggressive and confrontational whenever Seifer drew near. Hayner resorted to petty bickering to convince himself that he had not let Seifer just walk in and take over his life. He strived for Seifer's acknowledgement, which was gained by childish insults and challenges to skirmish.

"Almasy takes it up the ass!" he shouted after practice. Seifer mostly ignored him, but his jaw tightened and his cold eyes narrowed to pale icy slits.

"Whatever you say, lamer."

Seifer proved to be hard to crack, usually ended up just ignoring him, thus pushing Hayner to take it further and further to get some sort of reaction.

"Hey, dickweed!"

Seifer turned to spit back an insult only to have Hayner's fist narrowly miss his nose and crash into his cheek and ear. He jerked away, cradling the right side of his face, looking at Hayner with an infuriated and injured expression. Hayner had taken to physical affronts when verbal efforts became wasted on the golden-haired boy.

"I don't believe you, lamer. What the hell kind of wuss attacks a man with no warning?"

"Hey, what's the problem, you've already got one ugly scar decorating our ugly face, what's another?" Hayner sneered back. His fist was in attack position should he need to use it again (or alternatively, when he wanted to use it again, meaning any moment now).

Seifer just narrowed those chlorine-blue eyes at Hayner and ran off to presumably fix up his face.

"Yeah that's right you coward, run away! I'll fuck you up so bad doctors won't ever be able to fix your face!"

It didn't take long for Hayner's persistent attention-seeking efforts to reap some sort of reward. Seifer was doing well to deflect Hayner's menacing behaviour but there was only so much he was willing to put up with.

It happened on one of those rare days when Hayner didn't have to go to the pool. It was cool outside. The sun was shining and there were no clouds but the breeze was a little chilly and Hayner had goosebumps along his arms when the wind blew. He looked up at the pale celestial blue of the autumn sky and thought about Seifer's eyes. He hated Seifer. He hated blue, because it reminded him of Seifer.

Of course, as per usual, the mere thought of Seifer meant that he was not far away. The only warning Hayner got was a glimpse a screaming blue gaze slashed in half down the middle before he was shoved against the mesh-wire fence and there was an arm across his gullet and Seifer growling in his ear, "What is your freaking _problem_?"

Hayner managed to hold back the shriek that would have ruined his reputation as a male. He opened his mouth but any impending wisdom was cut short when Seifer punched him in the gut.

_Oh god _it felt like somebody had hit him with an army of steamrollers. He had been in fights before and he had been in a few fights with Seifer before, but this he had been unprepared for, he'd had his defences down and had not expected it at all. Hayner buckled in shocked pain and wheezed uncontrollably, attempting to simply comprehend how_ much _it_ hurt_.

Seifer hauled him upright by his shirt and his face tightened. His fingers tightened in the fabric of Hayner's shirt, unrelenting and strong. Hayner predicted another punch and cringed. His body was in too much pain for him to gather any energy to resist or fight back. When it came to the crunch Seifer was always the stronger. Hayner had taken enough well-deserved beatings to know in his heart that his chances of beating Seifer for real were slim.

Seifer's face came forward, close, too close, and Hayner struggled to avoid those eyes that would undo him. Seifer was way too close. He could almost feel the firm, smooth curve of Seifer's nose, could see the blonde fuzz on the other's chin and jaw, could see up close just exactly how goddamn freaking perfect this boy was.

"Why are you such a little shit to me? Afraid I'll whip your ass in the finals?"

"I'll whip _your_ ass," Hayner mumbled, the best comeback he could think of in this situation with Seifer so close to him, once again his warm breath making Hayner tremble and hate himself for being so ridiculously submissive. Hayner noted distantly that Seifer had faint, subtle freckles across the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks. You'd have to be this close - nearly flush - to notice them.

"Bet you'd like that."

Wait, what? That almost sounded … sexual?

"We'll see, chicken." Seifer laughed as he flicked Hayner's nose - not gently either - and patted him on the cheek.

He stepped back and Hayner relaxed a little, feeling relieved. Maybe Seifer was going to leave him alone now. He looked up and his breath caught in his throat.

Seifer's eyes ran up and down his body, slowly, deliberately, and when he met Hayner's eyes he tilted his head down in what was almost a salute, looking up at Hayner through long delicate eyelashes and Hayner felt himself blush horrifically.

How did Seifer get so goddamn fucking sexy?

Had he always been like that? Was Seifer flirting with him!?

Just as Hayner felt that his heart was hammering away so fast that it would explode, Seifer dropped his eyes and turned, waving casually over his shoulder. Inexplicably Hayner was reminded of the encounter in the shower. He looked down and realised with horror that he was hard. What? Since when did _Seifer_ of all people turn him on?

Quickly, he stole a glance at Seifer's retreating back. Broad, hard shoulders. A strong neck lined with sinew and subtle shadows of muscle in his back that showed through his shirt. Even in a lumpy, ruffled jumper, Seifer cut a very nice figure. Swimming muscles were inevitable and unmistakeable. All of a sudden Hayner thought perhaps the gossip had some substance to it. Perhaps Seifer really _was _hot stuff. Hayner would not have refused Seifer, just then, with his body forced into the fence and Seifer's breath on his face.

Hayner groaned. No, no, no! This couldn't be right! The competition was next week, Seifer was cheating! He was psyching him out, it had to be against the rules. He was just trying to get Hayner to freak out so that he'd lose and make Seifer look good. No way. On top of that Seifer was a freaking whore and Hayner would not fall into the category of simpering sluts who had submitted to his overbearing charisma.

The moment passed and Hayner's body reminded him how hard Seifer's fist was. He doubled over and vomited emptily onto the street, clutching his poor stomach. This Seifer guy was going to kill him, one way or another.

* * *

Regret and obsessive insecurity came to replace Hayner's obsessive hatred. Every day at the pool, he was aware of Seifer's purposeful, unhurried gaze on him. He never dared to sneak a look to check whether it was he whom Seifer was stalking. He knew it was. Seifer was definitely doing it to freak him out.

It seemed inevitable - Hayner had come to the conclusion that Seifer got off on public exhibition. Why else would he allow himself to be spotted in a carpark, behind the gym and in the bathroom of a restaurant? It made Hayner sick, especially since it seemed to happen in the places which he frequented often, and at times he thought Seifer was conspiring against him. And, oh, ew, how many STDs would that guy have contracted by now? He had to be swimming in them. Hayner shuddered.

"_Ugh. Did you know I saw Seifer making out with some girl like half his age behind the old mansion downtown? He can't keep his dirty hands to himself. Dirtbag."_

"… _What were you doing all the way out there, Hayner? I didn't know there was anything to see, it's just an abandoned house. You weren't following him or anything … ?" _

"_What? No! I hate Seifer Almasy, of course I wasn't following him!"_

He resolved to put it behind him and to focus on the upcoming competition. All this time wasted on venting about some arrogant stranger and suddenly Hayner realised he had two weeks to go. He didn't want to lose - it would be humiliating, and he was here for a reason. That reason being, namely, that he loved swimming. If he could somehow just concentrate on that - and if he could beat Seifer at the same time - he could convince himself that he was over this, that life would go on. Sometimes he wondered if he was a closet schizophrenic and whether perhaps his paranoia was in fact everybody conspiring against him for real, especially Seifer.

_No, _he told himself firmly. _No more thinking about Seifer. _

The first step came in avoiding going to those places where he knew Seifer would be waiting to run into him. Naked or otherwise, with some keening young adolescent pressed beneath him or against a wall. Hayner saw no point in letting the golden deity know that he cared about these dirty secrets that lay around town like some obscene treasure hunt. If Seifer wanted to do that, then Seifer could do that. As for Hayner, well, he had better things to do. Like ignore Seifer, which was the second step. He figured if he stopped paying attention, Seifer would probably get bored of this stupid, reckless game and leave him alone.

To relieve himself of stress he decided to indulge in a treat. Hayner had an unquenchable addiction to seasalt ice cream (he blamed his best friend Roxas for introducing him to the stuff) and while he avoided it to stay in shape, it was definitely okay to yield once in a while. His gut instinct told him somehow, magically, Seifer Almasy would also be there, but Hayner didn't care. He would have ice cream. He was ever fighting off these thoughts of Seifer and privately he thought he needed a break. Obsession was a tiring past time.

When he arrived at the little shop, he noted happily that Seifer was nowhere to be seen. It did occur to him upon purchasing a seasalt ice cream that the sickly colour reminded him of Seifer's eyes.

"Goddammit!" Hayner swore out loud, causing the surrounding customers to frown at him. He didn't notice. Why couldn't he stop thinking about Seifer? Savagely, wishing that it were Seifer's skull, he ripped the top of the ice cream off with his teeth and crunched it. If there were a violent way of eating an ice cream, Hayner had surely set the standard. The coldness of the ice cream bit through his teeth and his throat and all of a sudden he had brain freeze. He swore again, this time outside the shop, and spat little pieces of unchewed ice cream into his hand.

If Hayner's friends had been there they would have laughed. Hayner was famous for being clumsy and irate, almost always simultaneously.

Somebody grabbed Hayner by the wrist. He jerked his head up, shouting, "Hey, what …" and was struck speechless as Seifer pulled Hayner's fingers to his mouth. Hayner could feel the gentle exhalation of Seifer's breath over his skin. He made a small protest, mumbling, "Almasy … the fuck …" but it seemed that Seifer hadn't even noticed him. He hadn't even looked up.

Hayner was going to start sweating any moment now, he was so goddamn nervous. He didn't understand why Seifer was doing this. Was he playing a game?

A tongue coloured a shade of pink that was far too erotic slipped past Seifer's lips, darted out and curled around the bit of ice cream and most of Hayner's fingertip. Hayner ground his teeth and stiffened, trying his best not to cave in and make any sort of noise that would indicate to Seifer that he gave a damn.

The seasalt ice cream slid from his fingers and into Seifer's mouth, but not before Seifer's lips closed briefly around Hayner's finger and _slid_ down off the tip of it with a very soft slurp.

Hayner stared. Goddamn. Had Seifer _meant_ for that to look like some sort of obscene imitation of oral sex?

Seifer swallowed, delicately and far too noisily. Hayner could hear his saliva glands working, watched his throat contract briefly and cursed himself. Seifer had made such a nuisance of himself, he had totally invaded Hayner's life and not only that, he had ruined it! Hayner couldn't get Seifer out of his head and now, when he looked at him, Hayner couldn't stop noticing all these little things. Was it normal for most people to have such bold, sinewy shoulders? To be put together so naturally, to look like some sort of god? Hayner felt tempted to reach out and touch, just to see for himself.

"What's the matter, lamer? Shut your mouth before something flies in. And would you quit staring? You're freaking creepy when you do that."

"I - I'm not, I was looking at something behind you … " There wasn't half as much fight in his voice as he would have liked. In fact, loathe as he was to admit it, his voice was trembling a bit. Only a bit, not much at all, Seifer wouldn't notice, he reassured himself.

"Oh? Are you blushing?"

"Almasy, fuck off before I rearrange your face."

"Hmph. I'm sure you like my face just the way it is …"

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

Seifer smirked. Hayner had seen this look before but never directed at him like that. Like … like Seifer was thinking about doing something to Hayner. Something that Hayner didn't think he would like. He shuddered.

He needed to get away from Seifer. Without saying anything, he started to stride off. Rude, perhaps, but he hardly thought it was appropriate to show manners to a person like Seifer.

His expression soured as he thought about his ice cream. The only reason he'd got it was to get rid of all this pent up stress related to the blue-eyed freak, and look how it had ended. Half on the floor and the other half … well, enough said.

Seifer yelled after him just before he got out of hearing range, "Lamer!"

Hayner didn't stop or look back, but he heard very well what came after that as Seifer dropped his voice and almost whispered after him, "I'll get you, just you wait."

Was that supposed to be a threat or a promise?

Hayner didn't want to hang around to find out. He bolted home.


End file.
